Hoboken 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen is coming out against the draft agreement that would allow more helicopters to fly over Liberty State Park.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The agreement is flawed and the product of a process that failed to gather sufficient input from too many of the key stakeholders and the impacted general public,” Cohen said in a statement, asking the National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration to reject it.
“I express my strong opposition to this draft NPS/FAA draft agreement. I urge a new, transparent process to occur before finalizing any such agreement. I urge that any NPS/FAA agreement ensure that it will not create adverse impacts from non-essential helicopters on Liberty State Park or the residents of New Jersey,” he said in comments submitted to the NPS.
Cohen also pointed out that the draft agreement in its current form would divert too much helicopter traffic to flight paths directly over state parks heavily used by local residents.
“By creating a 1,000-foot helicopter flight buffer for Liberty Island and Ellis Island tourists, the existing helicopter flight paths will be pushed to fly over neighboring State parks, including Liberty State Park,” he added
“While it is questionable how much benefit this 1,000-foot helicopter flight buffer would create for Liberty Island and Ellis Island’s visitors (and there are no supporting studies reflecting any such benefits provided to the public by the NPS or the FAA), it is unquestionable that forcing additional flight paths for commercial helicopter flights over Liberty State Park will degrade the public’s use and enjoyment of those cherished public spaces.”
Cohen joins the Friends of Liberty State Park and Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon in coming out against the proposal.
“The process to date has deprived the general public of meaningful opportunity to shape this proposal and wrongly gives an unbalanced seat at the table to the powerful, for-profit special interest helicopter tourism companies — companies that do not represent the interests or the concerns of the residents of New Jersey or New York or the visitors to Liberty State Park,” noted Cohen.
“The agreement is flawed and the product of a process that failed to gather sufficient input from too many of the key stakeholders and the impacted general public,” Cohen said in a statement
The Councilman needs to keep this thought in mind as the City continues its development projects, and not rely on half baked, self serving surveys as evidence of public approval. For some, crowded streets may be more troublesome than crowded airspace – -let’s talk about it.
Half baked is more than just the Bhalla’s cannabis sales policy in Hoboken it what they do on everything they try to do.